Sisco Given Petition with 292,000 Names of Americans Urging for to Help End Persecution of Syrian Je

November 25, 1975

WASHINGTON (Nov. 24)

A delegation of Jewish leaders today gave Undersecretary of State Joseph Sisco a petition signed by 202,000 Americans urging President Ford to “Intervene personally” to help end the “persecution” of. Jews in Syria, Rabbi Israel .Miller, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who led the delegation, made the presentation in Sisco’s office in the State Department.

The petition called on Ford “to intervene personally using the power and prestige of your office to urge the President of Syria to cease the persecution of the Jews of Syria and to ensure their human rights and dignity,” Ford was also urged “to request the Syrian government to permit the emigration of Syrian Jews.”

According to the petition, there are 4500 Jews in Syria, They were described as subject to “arbitrary arrest, imprisonment and restriction of movement, constant police surveillance, severe economic restrictions and special identification cards marked with the word ‘Jew,’ These are only some of the indignities inflicted on these unfortunate people.”

The campaign for signatures was initiated earlier this year by the Central Conference of American Rabbis and endorsed by the Conference of Presidents on behalf of its 32 national constituent bodies, Members of the delegation that met with Sisco included 10-year-old Michael Schoen of Baltimore, who personally collected 20,000 signatures in the position campaign,